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People v. Mertz11/17/2005
eam and observed defendant struggling with a man later identified as Brian Catt. The woman, Amy Joyner, pointed out defendant, and Blevins grabbed defendant, only then noticing that defendant had a knife at his side. Joyner later informed Blevins that she and Catt had been walking by defendant's building when defendant asked them if they wanted to come up to his apartment and "party." Joyner and Catt went up to defendant's apartment and had a few drinks. When defendant started flirting with Joyner, Catt and Joyner started to leave. Defendant then called Joyner a "narc" and pushed her down. Joyner got up and again tried to leave, and defendant again pushed her to the floor. Joyner told Blevins when she looked up she saw that defendant had "a dagger" in his hand. At that point, Catt and defendant started fighting. Catt's version of events was consistent with Joyner's. Defendant said he could not remember what had happened. Joyner suffered an abrasion on her forehead and abrasions on her knuckles. As a result of the incident, defendant was charged with aggravated assault, a charge that was still pending when defendant was tried on these charges.
Defendant had previously been convicted of battery in 2000. A certified copy of that conviction was introduced as evidence. The attendant probation order, which was signed in January of 2001, indicated that defendant was on probation at the time of the incident involving Joyner in April of 2001, and at the time of the McNamara murder in June of 2001. Paragraph eight of that order states that defendant "shall not possess a firearm or other dangerous weapon."
Michael Jordan, the jail inmate who had previously testified against defendant, was called as a witness at the aggravation/mitigation phase of sentencing. According to Jordan, defendant said he had secreted a gun over at the college, where he worked, and had one at his house as well. Jordan said defendant told him he did not intend to spend the rest of his life in prison if things went badly at trial. Jordan stated that defendant had a wire and could pick handcuffs. If convicted, defendant planned to pick his handcuffs in the tunnel between the courthouse and the jail, and go for a guard's weapon. Defendant also indicated he wanted to "get even" with Mark Stabler for testifying against him. Jordan said that defendant had saved articles about himself while incarcerated and awaiting trial.
Douglas Paul testified that he was one of defendant's good friends prior to June 12, 2001. When Paul was in defendant's apartment, prior to that date, he noticed an article pertaining to the June 1999 murder of Amy Warner in Charleston, Illinois. Defendant had the article posted on his wall. Defendant told Paul he had killed Warner. He referred to Warner as "white trash." Paul testified that, when he broke up with a woman in January of 2000, defendant asked him if he wanted defendant to "get rid of her." Paul stated he had seen defendant slashing the tires and seats of a Jeep after a party in July of 2000. Paul also remembered defendant yelling a racial epithet at an African-American in their apartment building's parking lot. Paul said defendant called the other person a "stupid nigger," and defendant's action incited a physical confrontation. Defendant also told Paul that he had burned down an apartment building under construction across the street from his residence.
Brian Beavers, another friend of defendant, testified that he had observed defendant use a credit card to enter other people's apartments. Defendant also told Beavers, without prompting, that he had burned down the apartment building across the street. On another occasion, defendant told Beavers he had murdered a girl in 1999, thoug
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